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Over the last 30 years, U.S. floods have caused on average $8.2 billion in damages annually. Wildfire suppression costs in the United States have averaged $1.54 billion annually for the last 10 years. Hurricane Sandy caused an estimated $65 billion in damage and economic loss, making it the second costliest storm in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina. September is National Preparedness Month, a good time to highlight the natural hazard risks we face: Earthquakes: The U.S. Geological Survey and its partners are working to develop a prototype Earthquake Early Warning System for the West Coast of the U.S. called ShakeAlert. The system could provide seconds to minutes of warning before...

Related "U.S. Geological Survey" Articles

Over the last 30 years, U.S. floods have caused on average $8.2 billion in damages annually.
Wildfire suppression costs in the United States have averaged $1.54 billion annually for the last 10 years.
Hurricane Sandy caused an estimated $65 billion in...

Crowdsourcing is used for everything from honing GPS routes to funding creative projects, calling elections to strengthening national security — now citizens are being called on to help coastal science.
The U.S. Geological Survey is launching “iCoast —...

Bad luck, Hampton Roads: Experts say the South isn’t the place to ride out global warming.
In fact, the coast from New England to Texas is the most vulnerable to the hurricanes, rising seas and eroding shores that rising temperatures are projected to...

Last month’s earthquake may have shaken North Anna nuclear power station twice as hard as it was designed to withstand, federal regulators said Thursday.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is investigating the incident, has not found serious damage...

Scientists say there is no link between a controversial natural gas drilling technique and the Virginia earthquake that rattled the East Coast in August.“Let’s be very clear: fracking did not cause the Virginia earthquake,” said Christopher “Chuck”...

Robert P. Taylor III climbed down the ladder of the tractor that he uses to spread fertilizer. He knelt down and grabbed a handful of soil from a field that would soon be lined with cotton seeds. "People don't understand," the...

AURORA, N.C. — The sun was about to set when Robert L. Shirley drove his beige pickup onto the Pamlico River ferry.He was joined by fellow Potash Corp. employees who had just finished the day shift mining what scientists say could be the “gravest...

Florida, the most storm-battered state in the nation, now is home to groundbreaking research that allows scientists to dissect the raw power of hurricanes.
Both the University of Miami and Florida International University have built complexes that...

JUNEAU, Alaska - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Alaska on Thursday near Anchorage, but the U.S. Geological Survey said there was little likelihood of casualties or severe damage from shaking generated by the deeply rooted tremor.
The agency said the...

ARLINGTON, Wash. — The Stillaguamish River and the Hazel Slide have been rivals for decades.
The river eats away at the clay and sand hillside to the north of the snaking river. Weakened by the erosion, the hill’s foot lacks the strength to fight the...

A shallow magnitude 2.6 earthquake was reported Saturday morning one mile from La Habra, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 2:49 a.m. PDT near the surface.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was two miles from...

A strong earthquake shook the border between Guatemala and Mexico on Monday, killing at least four people, including a newborn boy, damaging dozens of buildings and triggering landslides.
The 6.9 magnitude quake struck near the frontier. Much of the...

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake near the border of Arizona and New Mexico rattled a significant swath of the U.S. Southwest late Saturday but caused no major damage or injuries, the United States Geological Survey said.
The earthquake was centered about 31...

Without railroads and mines, what would the American West be? Less populous, less prosperous, less polluted. And the town of Durango might not be anything at all.
Durango, sporty and historic, stands 6,520 feet above sea level among the San Juan...

In the Alaska of my mind, it is always summer. A bear stands hip-deep in glacial runoff, swatting salmon and swallowing them whole. Eagles wheel overhead. Moose meander in the bush. The theme from "Northern Exposure" echoes across the tundra.
...

California's Napa Valley, the site of a strong and damaging earthquake a week ago, was shaken by a small aftershock early on Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake, measuring magnitude 3.2, occurred five miles southwest of Napa. There were no...

NAPA, Calif., Aug 24 (Reuters) - A 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked wine country north of San Francisco early on Sunday, injuring more than 100 people, damaging historic buildings, setting some homes on fire and causing power outages...

A planned IndyCar series race at Sonoma Raceway was still scheduled to be held Sunday afternoon despite a 6.0 earthquake that jolted the Bay Area, the track said.
"The raceway and its facilities experienced no damage," the raceway said in a...

A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck southwestern China on Sunday, killing at least 367 people and leaving more than 1,881 injured in a remote area of Yunnan province, causing thousands of buildings, including a school, to collapse. The U.S. Geological...